Posted on 04/24/2005 8:20:16 AM PDT by raccoonradio
Recently, I've been writing commentaries about as often as a song repeats on the Jack format. As a matter of fact, more stations will switch to the new "flavor of the month" than records will be repeated. By the time you finish reading this column, another station will have probably switched to the "Jack" format.
Brilliant.
For months, I've been writing commentaries about the dangers facing radio from satellite, iPods and audience lethargy. I have been waiting for one of the great programming minds of our time to come up with the magic formula that will help save the medium. This is what we get?
Please.
Audiences are leaving terrestrial radio in droves. Research tells us the blight is from too many interruptions, too much repetition and too many alternative avenues that provide listeners with what they need.
How does terrestrial radio respond? By trying to be more like satellite radio. (Impossible since music channels on satellite radio has no commercials.) By trying to be more like an iPod. (Why would I trade my iPod for Jack? My iPod has all my favorite music...plus no commercials.)
I'm confused.
Radio has a wonderful opportunity to compete and win against the competition...yet radio won't do it. What terrestrial radio needs is what the alternatives can't offer - a personality approach filled with local content that an audience can identify with. What we have is the opposite.
Radio began to kill itself when those in charge began saving money by offering identical formats in different cities. Soon, there was nothing for the audience to differentiate. Every station sounded alike. There was no need for audience loyalty. Radio did nothing to make the audience care about specific stations, using instead stale slogans (10-in-a-row) as a positioning statement.
You were warned, but you didn't listen. Now, terrestrial radio is paying for its sins. Instead of fixing what's broken, geniuses in charge are now playing against its strengths and changing formats.
Jack?
Whether radio believes it or not, the medium is tied to the record industry. Creating new stars today provides radio with product for tomorrow. An iPod can't create a new star. Radio executives have long said they aren't in the business of selling records. That is a shortsighted statement made by shortsighted people...who are also usually short in all ways.
Just as the record industry needs radio, radio needs music. Idiot programmers who protested the point are now out of quick fixes. Where's the music?
So now we have Jack...a format that relies on old music recycled in a non-formatical way. Programmers believe this will cause the audience to listen more because it isn't as tiring.
Jack will only succeed if it's programmed by professionals who incorporate entertainment between the music. Then it's not the format, it's the entertainment provided. Otherwise, it is a flash in the pan...doomed to failure by its nature. Its biggest positive (non-repetition) is also its biggest liability. Radio listeners want to hear their favorite songs a lot; their iPods are full of them.
There's a cruel irony here: Jack's biggest potential audience won't ever become loyal listeners, because they're inevitably be listening to their iPods.
Jack's future without entertainment? Same as the rest of the formats without the excitement ingredient.
Jack s---.
What does (pop) music radio do? It starts a format known in various places as Jack, Frank, Mike, or even Hank (country) that has more variety (but still more than a bit of repetition), and often no DJs (just a smart-alecky guy from out of town talking about how "we play everything").
Years ago (like in the 60s) you'd find all kinds of music on top 40 radio. Later, there was a kind of schism--there were rock-ish stations, and dance/disco/R&B ones. Some of these Jack-like stations (example: "Mike 93.7" in Boston) will play something like Aerosmith and segue it into the Village People. Radio buffs refer to this as "Trainwreck radio". I guess they want to get both male and female listeners (the previous format, "Star 93.7", was female-heavy but now they want both genders.
Anyone got stations like this where you are? Comments?
One of our Minneapolis stations just switched from an 80s format (which I had stopped listening to because I was tired of hearing the same Huey Lewis song every time I turned on the radio) to this Jack thing.
I listened for a while yesterday. On the plus side, they play some songs that I hardly ever hear on the radio ("Pop Music" by M!!!). The downside is, as you say, the major clashes between musical styles. That, and the commericals, as always.
I don't know. I listen to talk radio occasionally, but my in-dash radio is also an MP3 player, so I listen to books on CD, or program my own "radio show" and burn it to CD.
I guess I'd fall into the "I-Pod" listener category, only my I-Pod weighs two thousand pounds - and I can't get it through the front door at work.
Get a real I-Pod... problem solved.
It's not really a problem - can't listen to one at work anyways so getting a real I-pod would be a duplication of effort and a waste of funds.
Yeah. Here in SoCal. the "classic" rock station formally known as Arrow 93.1 was recently converted to Jack. I gave it a listen but it's mostly crap to me.
For YEARS I have been able to just pop a CD-ROM loaded with MP3's into my car stereo, and listen commercial free for days at a time, so radio holds little attraction for me.
I'm a courier with FedEx, and during the morning sort--which lasts about 2.5 hours--we have a radio station (chosen by vote) set for each day. Jack FM takes two days and offers the most variety. Country, classic rock and rap/R&B take the other three days.
Jack FM brags about playing "whatever we want", and quips before commercials "We have arrived at the intersection where art meets commerce." Mostly they play safe AOR from the 60's forward, which is often very good music!
These days I only listen to the radio when I am driving.
I used to listen a lot more at home while my daughter was getting ready to go to school.
Then my favorite alternative channel switched format a few years ago, and I would get SO frustrated with the two new Morning Morons they put on.... Theese two jerks ran their mouths constantly, often right over the music. I'd be literally yelling at the radio:
" Shut up and play the music, you idiots!"
There are three ways to break new recording artists.
Promotion. Promotion. Promotion.
Unfortunately for the music industry, they have their lawyers busy trying to shut down virtually all ways to promote new talent. They are suing kids downloading MP3s, kids who would otherwise have become fans of new recording artists. They are trying to bully mom-and-pop restaurants so that they can't play music without ponying up outrageous fees to ASCAP and RIAA. They are trying to make it so nobody can share any music at all, thus shutting down opportunities to expose their talent.
Is it any wonder that people retreat to their iPods and just listen to the music of their past?
Fortunately, there are ways to discover new music. Podcasting, still in its infancy, is starting to take off. For example, I subscribe to a podcast called "Coverville" that has exposed me to a lot of new music I never otherwise would have heard. As a result, I've downloaded several dozen songs on iTunes. I am also a subscriber to Sirius satellite radio, which is a throwback to the old days of radio where zany DJs played whatever they were passionate about instead of having to play a tightly structured playlist that bean-counters devise for maximum demographic appeal.
How bad is commercial radio? Consider the song "100 Years" by the band Five for Fighting. This is one of those mainstream "safe" pop songs that appeal to a wide demographic group. The song was released two years ago. Yet it is still in very heavy rotation on virtually every FM "adult alternative" radio station. It seems that we will literally be listening to this track for the next "100 Years!"
There is virtually nothing new getting played anymore on FM radio. They are playing it safe and playing the same hits over and over and over again. The same old songs by artists like Everclear, Goo Goo Dolls, Nirvana, Coldplay and Weezer still dominate rock radio as much as 10 years after their original release! Country radio is no different. The FM country stations are still playing songs in heavy rotation that first charted over a year ago! There is very, very little room for new songs. And if these new songs don't "click" right away with the desired demographic audience, they are quickly pulled from playlists. This rewards recording artists who "play it safe" which is why every Matchbox 20 and Coldplay song sounds pretty much the same.
Appreciating truly brilliant music requires a little investment of time. Most really good music is an acquired taste. But unless it has hooks that immediately grab the listener, it is never given a good chance on FM radio. As a result, we continue to sink into mediocrity.
My wife bought me a MP3 player with a gig of storage on it for our anniversary a few months back. I have rarely listened to the radio since. I didn't want one of the hard drive types because of their size even though they hold more. It's not like I need to carry 10,000 songs around with me at one time. I don't even have that many CDs. To fill the thing up would require me to "borrow" some music. But anyway, I love the thing because my CD player in the car has an aux in on the front panel. I get in the car, plug the player in and start listening to what I want without annoying commercials or even more annoying DJs. When I get where I'm going I unplug it and take it with me to listen to later if I wish. The only real radio I listen to now is talk radio. Yes, I miss out on new bands that come along but most of them are crap or just like somebody else I listen to but not as good. Most bands you hear on the radio are the ones the industry shovels out at us because some marketing guy or head honcho who doesn't know beans about music thinks they're good or more likely will make them money in the short term. If a good band comes along I will hear about them without having to listen to the radio.
"Anyone got stations like this where you are? Comments?"
Yes "Bob FM" 103.5 in Austin, TX. 70/80/90s mix.
I'll surf between that and the disco/pop, classic rock, country and new mix stations... depending on the song.
" But anyway, I love the thing because my CD player in the car has an aux in on the front panel..."
How many cars have that? Got my wife an iPod-mini (4 GB) recently, and she's using it a lot. plugging it in a car is a great idea.
"I miss out on new bands that come along but most of them are crap or just like somebody else I listen to but not as good."
Exactly so. It's always been that way. takes a while to cull wheat from chaff, and most good music is 'out there' and not on some new music playlist.
The listener doesn't care. Only radio executives care. If I'm in Des Moines, what do I care if my Froggy station is the same as a Froggy station in Dallas?
Despite what radio snobs say, "local" sucks. Nobody cares about local programming, they just want to be entertained.
I have a Honda Del Sol but the CD player is after market. It's been quite a while since I've seen a similar feature on other CD players so I don't even know if it's still an option. I've had the player for over ten years now, I bought it when I got the car because it came with a tape player standard. The thing sometimes doesn't quite work right such as button 1 working as button 2 kind of stuff. But the aux in works fine and that's what I want it for so I haven't bothered to replace it. I think there are some cars starting to appear that have an aux in meant for devices such as MP3 players. But right now I think they're limited to higher end cars like BMWs. If you have a tape player in the car you could use one of the tape plug in things meant for portable CD players, that should work for the player assuming it has the proper stereo cable output. You could also try one of the short range FM transmitters that are out there. A coworker has one with his satellite radio that sits right in front of the stereo with it tuned to the proper frequency, works like a charm. No reason it shouldn't work with an MP3 player. I think they even make some intended for MP3 players.
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